Posted by Carl on July 10, 2001 at 10:10:26:
Hey Guys,
I’m really
getting into shooting international shooting. Only thing is as you know there
aren’t lots of international matches going on these days. I was thinking about
shooting my GSP in the .22 and centerfire portions of the area bullseye matches
to get some match time under my belt.
I was wondering if I should take the
time and effort to learn to shoot the .45 as well. Like the poster below I find
the .45 most difficult to shoot well. Will shooting the .45 hurt my
international (i.e. air pistol and free pistol) scores drop? The two guns are so
very different. Or in your experience does it help? Or should I just stick to
shooting the European stuff?
Thanks, Carl
Posted by James Scott on July 10, 2001 at 11:03:24:
Carl-
No matter
what you're shooting, sight alignment and positive trigger control are what
matter. So I don't think that shooting 45 will have an adverse effect on your
air or free scores.
Right now I'm competing in 2700s and shooting air pistol
matches a fair bit. In a couple of weeks I'm probably going to shoot a 2700 and
then do an AP match on the very next day. I'll let you know how it goes :-) I
started shooting 2700s in 1997 and this is my first year of serious AP shooting.
I can count the number of standard/sport matches I've shot on one hand. So far I
haven't sampled Free, Rapid or CF.
Anyway, I've found that I'm doing pretty
well in both AP and 2700s - I've managed to set personal bests in both over the
last month. I devote most of my live and dry fire training to the 45, because
that's my weakest gun. I don't try to mix AP and 22 or AP and 45 into the same
training session. I think that shooting 45 helps my trigger control in air, and
shooting air helps my hold and follow through in conventional
pistol.
Regards,James
Posted by Larry Lohkamp on July 10, 2001 at 19:57:20:
Hey Carl – shooting
is shooting. You point the gun at the target, line up the sights, and pull the
trigger without messing everything up. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 1911 with a
slide-mounted dot or a Hamerelli free pistol. The grip angles are different, but
it only takes a few seconds for the body to adjust to the change. Your body can
assume more than one configuration in a repeatable manner. Otherwise nobody
could shoot 3-position rifle. The trigger pull is going to be different, but
heck, the 22 and 45 never did have the same trigger pull weight any way. And the
sights aren’t a big deal either. I shoot indoor conventional, 3-gun
conventional, standard, air, and free. I have always shot the same class in all
of them (except for free pistol, danged skimpy little bullseye). The 45 is a
beast and it won’t forgive even the slightest lapse of technique, but that’s
good.
If you can afford a competition grade 45, then shoot it. The more you
shoot the better.
Posted by Alan Prough on July 10, 2001 at 20:35:20:
You can use the GSP
for the .22 and center fire portion of any Bullseye match. There are a lot of
Bullseye matches that only shoot a 1800 instead of the full 2700 match. If you
plan on shooting a 2700 and don't have a a .45, ask the Range master if you can
shoot the .45 portion using a centerfire pistol. Note: if you do shoot the .45
portion and do not use a .45 that portion of the match will not be recorded with
NRA, only the score for the 1800 will be recorded. However you will be paying
the match fee for the 2700. With the Bullseye matches that I run there is no
discount for shooting a partial match.
Posted by Jon Powell on July 14, 2001 at 00:01:05:
I've run
shoulder-to-shoulder bullseye matches for several years at two different clubs.
In order to increase participation, especially among beginners who were only
shooting the 22, we began allowing competitors to fire the full 2700 with the 22
if they wanted to. And those scores were reported to the NRA. Of course, their
scores in "off-phase" shooting (e.g. 22 in centerfire phase, 22 in 45 phase)
wasn't considered in making match awards. The NRA doesn't distinguish between
what pistol you shoot in conventional pistol, indoor or outdoor. I never warmed
up to the 45, so I fired 22 only in a lot of matches. I eventually made master,
but I've never really felt right about it because I wasn't firing the full
course. I should be receiving a master card in air pistol soon, which is
something that I will take some pride in.
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